Free Allegiance by Wanda Wiltshire Page A

made a beckoning gesture with his hand. I almost turned to follow his eyes, but the expression on his face was so gloomy I couldn’t take my eyes from him.
    ‘What’s wrong?’ I whispered.
    ‘Leif’s coming.’
    ‘What does he want?’ Just the thought of Leif made me feel uncomfortable, and right now, cranky on top of it. ‘I wish he’d just leave me alone.’
    ‘He can’t leave you alone, Marla. I wouldn’t expect him to. And in a minute, you won’t want him to.’
    I was about to argue but Jack quieted me with a kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck, but after a second more, he peeled me from him and said, ‘You know how much I love you, Marla, but… I can’t be with you anymore.’
    Before I had time to protest, Leif was standing above us. He was an awesome sight. Well over six feet, he wore nothing but loose pants in a shimmering fabric the colour of the moon. Dark hair—tousled and wild from his flight through the wind—swept around his face and neck. He was unquestionably the most beautiful man I’d ever seen and he was smiling rightat me. But still I felt nothing. It was as though there was a wall between us.
    Jack stood, bringing me with him. I crushed his hand with mine. ‘What do you want?’ I asked Leif. I could hear my voice—a strained whisper.
    ‘What you want, Marla, only you don’t know it yet.’
    I couldn’t speak.
    ‘I’ve missed you so much,’ he said, before turning his attention to my boyfriend. ‘Are you ready, Jack?’
    ‘As I’ll ever be, I suppose.’
    Leif inclined his head before looking back to me. Then he opened his arms as if he just expected me to melt into them. I gave him a look that told him he had to be dreaming. But he only smiled—wide and warm. And as I watched him it was as though a veil was lifted from my eyes, or perhaps from my mind, and I started to see him, really see him, inside and out. And, oh, God, he was beyond beautiful! I couldn’t breathe. A feeling was growing inside of me—hot and shimmering—building until it was consuming me utterly. I loved him, I knew it now. I loved him above all else. I loved him with a passion I couldn’t possibly contain. I loved him beyond all reason. I would do anything for him—go anywhere, be anything he wanted me to be. And while this knowledge filled me, made my heart pound with longing for him, my memories were returning, racing back: Leif holding me, warming me with sun released from his body, kissing me, flying with me in his arms before I knew how to fly for myself. All of my feelings for him returned, swamping me, too overwhelming to bear. I felt myself crumble with the force of it, but before I could fall, my betrothed caught me against him. My feet left the sand.
    ‘My love,’ he murmured against my hair. ‘I’ve missed you so. Put your arms around me, Marla, I need your arms around me.’ I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him—could notstop myself from kissing him. He smelt like he’d been running through the forest in the sunshine. I didn’t realise how much I’d missed the scent of him—that warm fragrance that hinted of some delicious spice wrapped up in sunlight. I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs with him. Bliss!
    ‘Oh, I love you, Leif. Never let me go again,’ I cried. ‘No matter what.’
    ‘Ah, Marla,’ he said, his voice filled with longing. ‘How the very thought of this moment has sustained me through the long days without you.’ And then he released his dazzling wings, scooped me up and took to the sky. He took me high above the clouds. It was ice cold up there, the air roaring past and bringing shivers to my skin. But Leif held me close and released a great wave of sun, warming me in moments.
    What happened to me, Leif? I said directly to his mind. I feel like I’ve just woken from a dream .
    The words in the letter were infused with my power. They released you from your memories of me, Marla. I knew how you would suffer when you left Faera and sorrow is